Going to France - any recommendations?

[Ser Clegane]

In September Mrs. Clegane and myself will make a trip to France and travel around for probably 2-3 weeks.

The general idea is to start with a couple of days in Strasbourg and spent some time in Alsace and Lorraine (possibly visiting Colmar and/or Metz) and then to head South to Burgundy and perhaps to the Ardeche (depending how much time we have).

We will not have a fixed travel route and will probably only book the accomodation in Strasbourg in advance (assuming that it should not be too difficult to get rooms on the way on short notice during September - if anybody has experience that would suggest otherwise, please let me know) and we will just follow our nose and will see were the roads will lead us.

Does anybody have any suggestions with regard to "must-sees" in the areas that I mentioned? Could also be small sights on the road, a nice little village, great places to eat. Any ideas are highly welcome

[Hooahguy]

ive only been to france once, 2 years ago, but i remember than i went to see the Normandy beaches, obviously, and the roman ruins in the southern part of France. forgot exactly were.
we only spent a day in Paris though, and 3 days in southern france and 2 days in normandy.

[Fragony]

A la France how I love that country.

should visit this



L:a mont Saint Michel, and yes.

[Tristuskhan]

Keep away from Paris, Vendée, Picardie, Lorraine, Champagne-Ardennes and Côte d'Azur.

[Ser Clegane]

Keep away from Paris, Vendée, Picardie, Lorraine, Champagne-Ardennes and Côte d'Azur.

Of these areas actually only Lorraine would potentially be on our tour list - any particular reason why you put it on your no-go list?

[InsaneApache]

Stay off the toll roads, you'll save a fortune.

[Louis VI the Fat]

The general idea is to start with a couple of days in Strasbourg and spent some time in Alsace and Lorraine (possibly visiting Colmar and/or Metz) and then to head South to Burgundy and perhaps to the Ardeche (depending how much time we have).

We will not have a fixed travel route

Don't miss the pearl of Lorraine: Nancy.

Two years ago, the city was restored. The Place Stan' and surroundings look stunning now. The inhabitants are quite convinced theirs is the prettiest square in Europe, and I for one won't argue them about it. It is sheer perfection.
Nancy is close to Strasbourg and Colmar, it is interesting to note the different looks of the cities. Strasbourg and Colmar are Alsacien / Germanic. Nancy is Classical and French. Possibly the most 'French' looking of all of French towns.
(Speaking of which, make friends instantly by declaring Metz crude, coarse and ugly while in Nancy. And by declaring Nancy arrogant, artificial and pompous while in Metz. North vs south Lorraine and all that.)


Watch and weep, ye of lesser nations! The essence of beauty:
http://www.laplusbelleplacedumonde.c.../sommaire.html
Be sure to click on 'Les royaumes des glaces', 'Les matins d'hiver'. Pics enlarge when clicked.

Nancy website:
http://www.ot-nancy.fr/
Be sure to catch the festival 'Rendez-vous Place Stanislas' - which should be on while you are there.

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Does anybody have any suggestions with regard to "must-sees" in the areas that I mentioned?

In the Bourgogne, Burgundy, I'd say don't miss the following pretty old towns: Auxerre, Chablis, Dijon, Semur-en-Auxois, and Vézelay - the romanesque basilica is one of the great sights of France. There must be lots of smaller and lesser-known mediaeval towns too.

Burgundy is notable for the greatest gastronomy in France. And Lyon as the capital of cuisine. If you won't find great food and wine here, I'll commit suicide in shame and despair.

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Could also be small sights on the road, a nice little village, great places to eat

A must have is the Michelin Red Guide. The Bible. It rates villages, hotels and restaurants. Their verdict is definitive. Not so much a readable tourist tour guide, but an authorative list of quality. One's best bet is to use the Red Guide when travelling the country to help find the places to stay and the places to eat.

Below is a fine organisation - 'Les plus beaux villages de France', 'the most beautiful French towns'. A sort of French 'UNESCO list' of quaint villages, max population of 2000. They usually have got it right. Another list is that of 'Villes et Pays d'Art et d'Histoire', 'towns and Lands of art and history', a government list of places that are working towards conserving their heritage.
http://www.les-plus-beaux-villages-d...onomy/term/136 - also in English
http://www.vpah.culture.fr/ - governmental, hence not in English. You can use the list to help decide what is worth checking out.
Neither list is a proper or complete travel guide, but both could lend a helping hand in deciding what is worth a detour.

[Furunculus]

A la France how I love that country.

should visit this



L:a mont Saint Michel, and yes.

agreed with frag MSM is awesome.

[Tristuskhan]

Of these areas actually only Lorraine would potentially be on our tour list - any particular reason why you put it on your no-go list?

Hum... maybe this was the region too far... Let's say because the food is not outstanding, they make no wine and the landscapes are common. Only if you're interested in forestry you should go there (but if you're interested in forestry, come visit me in Franche-Comté instead, cheese, wine, landscapes and biodiversity!).
Apart from that, Frag's favourite (Mount Saint-Michel), is an incredible place if you park your vehicle far from it an walk to it in the morning light. More than slightly overcrowded in summer, by the way. And just behind the Mount, you have my dear Britany if you want the best music in western europe.

Edit: Bourgogne, as Loulou VI wrote: best food best wine. Mustgo.
Re-Edit: Metz is absolutely awful. A no-life city. Good place to commit suicide, really.
Edit 3: I suppose Louis will argue about Gris-de-Toul, wine from Lorraine, but it's definitely not worth the trip.
Edit 4: just a bit of politically incorrect good taste, http://storage.canalblog.com/12/21/2...40445241_p.jpg ask Louis to translate if you need.

[Fragony]

Yes all results positive, he is french alright

[Ser Clegane]

Wow - thanks a lot for the responses, guys - especially to Louis - this looks extremely useful (and very comprehensive) and already makes me looks forward to our vacation (only 10 more weeks!).

Just checked for the "Michelin Red Guide" - seems like a very good investment

Thanks a lot again

[Tristuskhan]

Just checked for the "Michelin Red Guide" - seems like a very good investment

Oh, for sure. And if you follow it's recommandations you could be dead broke with four days or less (but have slept in the best beds on earth and ate the best food)

[Meneldil]

Keep away from Paris, Vendée, Picardie, Lorraine, Champagne-Ardennes and Côte d'Azur.

Paris is awesome, and so are Champagne-Ardennes & Vendée. Why should they keep away from it?

Someone who dies without visiting Paris lived a worthless life.

Côte-d'Azur OTOH is just bad.

[Ser Clegane]

Oh, for sure. And if you follow it's recommandations you could be dead broke with four days or less (but have slept in the best beds on earth and ate the best food)

Hey, you only live once And going over budget at least on some days certainly adds to the fun (there are other days to make up for it)

[Ser Clegane]

Someone who dies without visiting Paris lived a worthless life.

Indeed - great fun. We have been there a couple of times and will certainly go again (but not this time - I do not think it would be a lot of fun by car )

[||Lz3||]

Apprenez le français.

[Tristuskhan]

... is awesome, and so ... Vendée. Why should they keep away from it?

I'm quite biased about Vendée, since I'm Breton but well: Vendée: crappy landscapes, ugly coastline with mud-tasting seafood, mojettes ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogette ). Anthropophagy, catholicism. Women not as pretty as those in Britanny, Pays de la Loire or Gascogne or , in fact, anywhere else in France. No music.

For Ser Clegane, if you start in Alsace (good choice), a nice track could be:
(Franche Comté) not the most famous region, but the landscapes are great, people nice, awesome wines and about cheese it is only second to Switzerland. Maybe worth a try (it's where I live by the way)
Bourgogne, of course.
then thru Auvergne (really underrated) to Ardèche (where you could seek RL Stevenson's donkey).
And to the southwest ending in the Pays Cathare.

I'd like to have time and money to do so...

[Louis VI the Fat]

One more tip, gîtes:

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%AEtes_de_France

The Wikipedia link does not have foreign language translations. Which hopefully means that foreigners are as of yet quite unaware of the system. In the interest of l'amitié franco-allemande, I shall break the code of silence.
Gîtes are somewhat similar to what the English would call 'bed-and-breakfast'. During the modernisation after the war, many rural areas were depopulated and in need of finding a new means of income. The gîtes system was set up. Converted rural houses that are rented out to visitors, tightly regulated.

Do expect some owners to speak only French. Also, although the system is well-regulated, you are renting from individuals. Hence these range from very friendly people with a love for local heritage and an eager willingness to immerse the interested visitor in it, to pathetic little bastards out to squeeze the last penny out of you and generally make your stay as unpleasant an experience as their miserable imagination can conjure up.

There are fifty thousand different adresses. With some searching, one can find very nice deals in all price categories: ugly 1970s houses cheaply let out for the summer, to luxury second homes with swimming pools, to centuries old farmhouses. It is more convenient than camping, more authentic than hotels. A very pleasant in between.

The official site:
http://www.gites-de-france.com/gites/fr/gites_ruraux
You'll have to book in advance, so it doesn't really combine well with just driving around. Then again, maybe you can find a real gem to stay in for a few days and use it as a base from which to explore a region.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Keep away from Paris, Vendée, Picardie, Lorraine, Champagne-Ardennes and Côte d'Azur.

The Cd'A is a complete dump indeed. The others are not that bad, surely? Lorraine and C-A are great (not that I've ever been there, I think). Picardie, perhaps not so much. Paris, well Meneldil covered it.

Vendée...well what can one say?
Some French regions are simply tragic, stuck in a miserable past, backwards, inhabited by stone-age forest dwellers - but let's not dwell on Brittany anymore. The Vendée is tragic. Treated harshly by history and historiography alike. I recently read a re-appraisal of them during the revolution. Poor sods.

And just behind the Mount, you have my dear Britany if you want the best music in western europe.

Yeah, Britney makes fine music.

Edit: Bourgogne, as Loulou VI wrote: best food best wine. Mustgo.
Re-Edit: Metz is absolutely awful. A no-life city. Good place to commit suicide, really.
Edit 3: I suppose Louis will argue about Gris-de-Toul, wine from Lorraine, but it's definitely not worth the trip.
Edit 4: just a bit of politically incorrect good taste, http://storage.canalblog.com/12/21/2...40445241_p.jpg ask Louis to translate if you need.

I don't know what I like more: you calling me Loulou, or you guessing correctly that I'd argue about Toul wine.
Surely, it is...different? If you are there, you might as well give it a try I'd say.
The picture I'm afraid I'll leave untranslated. Like Toul wine, it is not for the sensitive, might leave a bad taste in your mouth, but is appreciated by me.

[The New Che Guevara]

As a englishman, I feel compelled to argue one argument very briefly.

"going to France- Any Recommendations?"

Leave.

Otherwise; carry on... You might want to go to Condom just for the name, and all the anecdotes you can tell, just like going to Fucking in Austria and Dildo in Newfoundland and Labrador. These are all excellent examples.

and because they are place names, I can get away with it. Please?
Even check it on wiki, they have pictures of the signs.

[TinCow]

Could also be small sights on the road, a nice little village, great places to eat.

For food, stop in small village bistros with outdoor seating away from touristy areas. Aim for places that have lots of people inside, but with none of them speaking English. If the menu is short and only in French, you're in the right place. If it's only written on a chalkboard, even better. Then order whatever you want and make sure to add on a bottle of Rosé during lunch and a bottle of anything local during dinner. Finish off with the cheese board. If you do this, you will never have a bad meal.

[Louis VI the Fat]

As a englishman, I feel compelled to argue one argument very briefly.

"going to France- Any Recommendations?"

Leave.

Maire d'Eu!

Montcuq et Vatan.

[Meneldil]

I second any person who said Britanny is awesome. One of the most beautiful places I ever visited. The music is indeed great and furthermore, it's the only place where you can somehow breath during summer. It even happens to have fresh air sometimes. Crazy.

Only things that might seem unappealing is the amount of leftist long bearded hippies they have there. Happily, it looks like the region is exporting them worldwide (I met longbearded hippies from Britanny in Montréal and New-York).